When delivering mail—like letters or parcels—the last mile is often the most expensive, most time-consuming and most troublesome, both, for a delivery service, as well as for the recipient. The delivery service personnel may not reach the recipient because the recipient is not present at the recipient's address or there may be a long distance between a place for leaving the delivery vehicle and the final destination address.
Series of ideas have been envisioned to improve the situation, e.g., by delivering via a robot or a drone which make the delivery or by using stationary storage boxes from which the recipient may pick up his parcel or letter at any convenient time. However, all of the solutions require complex technical and mechanical equipment in order to safeguard parcels which have not yet been delivered to the final destination, i.e., the recipient.
There are several disclosures related to a method for delivering an item to a target recipient.
Document US 2015/0186840 A1 discloses an electronic smart locker compartment used for convenient and secure delivery and retrieval of parcels. Each locker station may include a set of individual lockers of various sizes, each with an electronically controlled door latch.
Document US 201510120601 A1 discloses a parcel delivery system including a parcel block system for receiving and storing parcels and a portable electronic device used by a person who delivers parcels to the parcel locker. A portable electronic device operated by an intended recipient of the parcel is also used. Encoded tags may be affixed to parcels, and the parcel locker system may comprise a number of individual parcel lockers and the controller device for controlling access to the lockers.
One of the disadvantages of these known solutions may be in the requirement to have lockers to store and protect individual parcels. Such locker systems are heavy and not easy to transport from one place to another. Typically, these locker systems must be located at a fixed place.
Accordingly, there may be a need to simplify the method for delivering parcels to recipients. Such a method and system may be usable by a human based delivery process, as well as an automated delivery process. And it may be highly flexible in space and time.